Take Your Beating
by UnattemptedFeat
Summary: It has been almost two weeks since Elizabeth entered the lives of Sam, Dean, and Castiel. Now Sam thinks he's found out how to put Lucifer back in the Cage.
1. Bygone

**Author's Note** **: Hola, mes amis! I hope everyone is doing A-OK!**

 **Yea! The second installment of my Sherlock/Supernatural Crossover!**

 **Wee!**

 **Excitement!**

 **Without further ado...**

Almost two weeks had passed since Elizabeth was first zapped into the bunker- and into the lives of two hunting brothers and an angel of the Lord.

Since then, Elizabeth had become like the little sister Dean and Sam had never had. She was a very welcome presence in their lives. She wasn't whiney, like other teenage girls. She was super smart, kind, fun, and mature.

Having come from the lifestyle she had, Dean noticed that Elizabeth fell in well with their living. Hunting would definitely come naturally to her. If they ever got to take her out with them, that is.

Dean had given her what he called a 'physical' a couple of days ago. By then, he was positive that she would be staying for a while, and he wanted to gauge her abilities.

Man, that girl was a beast. She could run a mile in seven minutes without passing out, hit the bullseye 99.9999999 percent of the time with an assortment of guns, and could spout off every single fact she had learned about the supernatural since she'd been to the bunker.

Dean definitely understood why her dad let her solve cases with him. She was blowing his mind, and he'd barely known her.

Elizabeth brought a bit of spice and spunk to the dark and dismal Dean was used to. Now, as he stood in the kitchen making coffee, he smiled as his hand automatically reached for two mugs instead of one. Castiel never drank coffee, and Sam usually didn't get up before nine, so the other mug could only be for Elizabeth. It was almost habit by now to get her mug ready for when she walked in.

Speak of the British girl. He could hear her footsteps coming down the hall. He knew they were hers by her lightness of step, gait, and pace. Sam, because of his great height, tended to walk with a slight lumbering gait. Castiel seemed to almost glide across the floor his feathery ass walked on.

"Morning, Kid," Dean greeted, not bothering to turn around.

"Good morning, Dean," Elizabeth came up beside him and took her mug, which was ready for her, with a grateful smile. "Anything specific on the agenda today?"

"Might make a supply run later," Dean mused, draining the dregs of his sweet nectar. "Wanna come along?"

"Are you going to play Metallica?"

"When do I not?" Dean grinned widely.

"Point taken," Elizabeth smiled back. "Sure, I'm down."

"Awesome," Dean continued. "Do need any more clothes, or do you think you're good?"

"I'm good, thanks." That had been fun. Sam had been the one to remember that Elizabeth actually needed something to wear if she was going to stay permanently. So Dean had taken her to a mall, given her two hundred dollars, and told her to get what she needed. She had come back with over a hundred dollars in change. Girl was probably a cheap date.

"Do you want anything else?" Dean asked. "Books? Laptop? Don't worry about money. The bunker's got stashes of cash, and Cas can magic up anything."

"I'm fine, Dean," Elizabeth assured him. "You've already done plenty for me. I mean, I just appear out of nowhere, and you guys haven't kicked me out yet."

"Hey, if you start bitching about your make-up, getting mud on your clothes, and getting sweaty and gross, I will bolt the door behind you."

"Promise?" Elizabeth smiled wryly.

"Cross my heart," Dean made the gesture.

"Guys!" Sam's yell made Elizabeth and Dean jump. "Elle! Dean! Cas! Get in here!"

Elizabeth and Dean instantly sprinted for Sam's room. They burst in just as Cas zapped himself there.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

Sam pointed at the TV, which was on the British news.

A picture of a smiling Elizabeth was plastered across the screen. The reporter in the background gave his story.

"Fifteen year-old Elizabeth Holmes, daughter of the detective Sherlock Holmes, has been missing for almost two weeks now. Authorities in Britain are still puzzled as to what happened to her. She was last seen by a cab driver walking along a street in London. Strangely, all traffic cameras and security moniters experienced black-outs at the time of her disappearance. At this point, Scotland Yard has determined that she was kidnapped. Among the suspects are James Moriarty, Sebastian Moran, and Irene Adler. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Elizabeth Holmes, you are advised to notify the authorities."

The story then clicked over to a piece about Tesco sales.

Dean looked over to Elizabeth, who was standing beside him.

"Well," Elizabeth took a deep breath. "At least I know I'm missed."

"Elle..." Sam trailed off helplessly.

"Um, I'm going to go...grab a shower," Elizabeth all but ran out of the room.

Castiel looked hard at the brothers, "I still think that we should inform her father that she is okay."

Sam sighed, "God, what he's going through... Dean, that's been us. I remember full well what it was like for me when you were in Hell. And at least, I knew where you were. Sherlock Holmes doesn't know if his daughter is even alive. He doesn't know what is happening to her."

"And, if I can help it, he never will," Dean clenched his fists. "Because we are going to kill Lucifer before he can carry on with any of his _plans_. We are going to end him, and then Elizabeth can go home."

Sam chuckled, "She can start a British branch of the Men of Letters."

"Hell, no!" Dean protested. "She is never hunting ever again! It's too dangerous."

"Like we'd be able to stop her," Sam reminded him. "You know how it is. Once you know about this stuff, you can't get away from it. She wouldn't be able to feel safe anyways."

"God, I hate this sometimes," Dean mused darkly. "I hate that innocent people's lives have to be destroyed. It's one thing to grow up like this, but to have everything you've ever known shatter in front of you..."

"She doesn't deserve this," Castiel said.

"And we are going to make sure that she is safe," Dean determined. "We are going to protect her, and she is going to be fine."

Sam and Cas nodded vehemently in agreement.


	2. Breakthrough

**Author's Note** **: Hello, good peoples! I hope that everyone's fields of paper flowers are blooming and their candy clouds are sugary sweet!**

 **Guys, guess what!**

 **I've already planned out up into the plots of season eight for this AU!**

 **Yea!**

 **I've got big plans for these guys.**

 **Without further ado...**

Sam glanced up from the book he was reading, about to suggest that Elizabeth go on to sleep. But it was too late, she had fallen asleep on the table, head resting on her folded arms.

Sam sighed tiredly, scrubbing at his eyes. _He_ should really be getting on to sleep. He had been at these books for hours already. Sam told himself that he really needed to get a better hobby. This one was depressing, sleep-depriving, and eye-crossing.

Looking at Elizabeth, who was sleeping peacefully, Sam wished that Castiel could have his way. Sam himself wanted to be able to tell Sherlock Holmes that his daughter was alive too. Sam could imagine what Sherlock was going through, he and Dean had both been there themselves.

At least, Sam considered, he had known where Dean was. Yes, he had been in Hell, and Sam had been powerless to help, but he still knew what had happened to him. Sherlock didn't even know if his daughter was alive, if she was being raped, tortured, hurt. Sherlock probably was too intelligent to hope for what was actually the truth.

That Elizabeth was okay. That she was being taken care of by the two Winchester hunters and a powerful angel. Sam was beyond glad that this was the case, but he knew that Sherlock would never be naive enough to consider it.

Taking one last look at Elizabeth, Sam dove back into the lore. He was revigored with the determination to make sure that Sherlock saw his daughter again.

After another hour of delving into books, Sam finally found it. He read the section again and again, confirming to himself that it was even real.

"Guys!" Elizabeth snapped awake, startled by Sam's yell. "Dean! Cas! I found it!"

"What?" Elizabeth leaned forward, trying to see what Sam was reading.

"What?" Dean echoed, shuffling into the room. Obviously noting that Sam's yell contained only excitement and not pain, Dean hadn't bothered to hurry into the room. He slumped into an armchair in the corner, rubbing his eyes. "Dude, it is like three in the morning. This better be good."

Castiel appeared on the floor. He had zapped his blanket and pillow with him, and he stayed on the floor curled up. "What?"

"I found out how to get Lucifer back in the Cage!" Sam said excitedly.

Dean and Cas were both up like a shot, crowding behind Sam.

Sam pointed to the book, "It says that we can put the rings of the Four Horsemen together to make a key. That key opens the Cage. All we need to do is open the Cage and get Lucifer back inside!"

"Okay, key opens Cage," Dean summed up. "Got that. Where does it open it? And how do you plan on getting Lucifer to jump back in it?"

"The key opens a door into the Cage anywhere," Sam told them. "That part doesn't matter. As for how to get him in, we let him possess his true vessel. His true vessel is the only one strong enough to take control while Lucifer possesses them and force Lucifer back into the Cage."

"But, you're Lucifer's true vessel," Elizabeth looked at Sam, horrified. "Sam, you can't trap yourself in the Cage with Lucifer!"

"I have to!" Sam fired back. "We don't have a choice!"

"There's got to be another way," Dean shook his head.

"We will find another way," Cas seemed sure. "But for now, we should focus on making this key. We must find the rings of the Four Horsemen."

"How do we do that?" Elizabeth asked. "And who are the Four Horsemen?"

"Pestilence, Death, War, and Famine," Sam answered. "They're on Earth somewhere right now. They were released from Hell when the Apocalypse started."

"I'll call Crowley," Dean walked away, pulling out his phone. "He'll know where those four bastards are."

"How did you guys get to be buddies with the King of Hell anyways?" Elizabeth asked, listening to Dean greet Crowley over the phone.

"Long story," Sam said tersely.

Dean came back five minutes later, looking somewhat pissed off.

"What did he say?" Sam asked warily.

"'One Horseman at a time, Squirrel,'" Dean answered, poorly imitating Crowley's accent.

"The King of Hell is British?" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Yeah, he'd love you," Sam remarked. "What does that mean, Dean?"

"It means that he told me where Pestilence is," Dean replied. "But that the other three's locations would have to wait until we've taken Pestie's ring and done Crowley a favor. One favor per Horseman apparently."

"Of course, how could we have expected any less?" Sam said, exasperated.

"Okay, I really want to meet this guy," Elizabeth commented.

"Where is Pestilence?" Cas asked, smoothing down his trench coat. Sam wondered why the hell he was sleeping in that thing. It had buckles that must be uncomfortable to lay on top of.

"Morgan, actually," Dean brightened a little. "It won't take us long to-" Castiel disappeared. "-drive there. Or you can just zap away." Dean looked to the ceiling, "Oh, Castiel. Don't you dare start hunting Pestilence until we get there!"

Sam and Elizabeth laughed at Dean's antics. They laughed even harder when Castiel came back.

"I was only waiting in the car, Dean," the angel told him. Cas noticed Sam and Elizabeth pretty much dying on the table. "What is so funny?"

"Oh, you hilarious angel of the Lord you," Elizabeth said as she walked out of the room to gather a bag together. Taking her example, Sam did the same. When he came back, Elizabeth and Cas were talking. Dean was absent.

"Dean is still procuring weapons," Cas answered Sam's questioning look. "He said he is looking for something sharp to shove up my ass."


	3. Beaten

**Author's Note** **: Bonjour, my good peoples! I hope that everyone is rocking around their Christmas trees!**

 **Without further ado...**

Elizabeth realized it the moment the crossed into the town limits of Morgan. She knew because she, Sam, Dean, and Cas all started coughing.

"Oh, awesome," Dean croaked, hoarse after the coughing fit.

"At least we know Pestilence is definitely here," Elizabeth remarked, remembering the bright side. She swallowed, grimacing at the sudden soreness in her throat.

After ten more minutes of driving and two more coughing fits, they reached the Morgan Hotchner Hospital, where Crowley had said Pestilence was.

"Alright, so we need to look around for Pestilence," Dean parked the Impala. "This could take a while. He could be anyone doctor, nurse, hell even patient. He could be the janitor, who knows. Whoever he is, he's the one whose patients are all dying. It's not a huge place, so hopefully we'll be able to get the ring, gank him, and haul ass before Elizabeth's face ends up on the news."

Elizabeth hadn't even thought about that. And clearly neither had Sam.

"Maybe she should stay in the car," he suggested.

"No way!" Elizabeth argued. "You're going to need me in there. A fourth set of eyes and hands is going to be useful. Besides, I'm young. Nobody's going to expect a teenage girl of hunting the supernatural."

"He's right, Sam," Dean silenced his brother before he could protest. "I want to smuggle her in as a patient."

"Ooh, cool," Elizabeth remarked enthusiastically. "What's wrong with me?"

"You mean besides the fact that you'll be hacking up a lung every ten minutes?" Dean smiled wryly. "I was thinking maybe assault. It would be good for you to be able to figure out the bedside manner of the doctors, because Pestilence sure will not have one."

"How can she be a victim of assault if she doesn't have a mark on her?" Sam reminded him.

"I was thinking of a specific kind of assault. Elizabeth came home late from a party last night, and you, Sam, as her older brother, think that she might have been drugged. You just want to be sure nothing happened."

"I'm glad you included me in the backstory," Sam said. "There was no way she was going in alone."

"What about me, Dean?" Castiel piped up from beside Elizabeth in the backseat.

"Cas, you and I get to screen the nurses and patients," Dean's face suddenly drooped with exaggerated sorrow. He scrunched up his face. "Our dad's just so sick. They don't think he'll make it through the night. We're terribly upset." He stretched his arms out for Sam. "Hold me?"

Sam shoved his arms away playfully, chuckling.

"Dean, I do not understand," Castiel said. "You and I are not related. And God cannot be ill."

"Jesus, Cas," Dean rolled his eyes. "Literal much?"

"He means that you and he are going to pretend to be brothers in case anyone asks you what you're doing, Cassie," Elizabeth explained to the poor angel. "It's just a precaution. Like me being a patient."

"And me being the older brother who's going to pound the guy who touched her," Sam threw in.

"We don't know if I've been assualted yet," Elizabeth played along. "I swear I didn't drink anything that didn't have tons of alcohol and weed in it."

"Don't forget to be American," Sam reminded her as they walked into the hospital. Dean and Cas were going to come in ten minutes or so after them, to try and avoid suspicion. "And try to act like a teenage girl."

"I am a teenage girl," Elizabeth reminded him.

Sam looked at her seriously, "No, you're an adult in a teenage body. Be whiney, complaining, and girly. And above all, be white."

Alright. Fine. Elizabeth immediately switched up her gait, slouching and dragging her feet. When Sam checked her in at the receptionist's desk, she rolled her eyes, twirling a piece of her hair.

When the nurse directed them to wait, Elizabeth slowly followed Sam.

"I'm fine," Elizabeth insisted, sliding down in the chair. "Nothing happened, I swear."

Sam jumped in, "I just want to be sure. Sorry if I don't take your word for it. You can't blame me after last time."

"Oh my God!" Elizabeth let her voice raise a little. "We were just kissing! Brian isn't near good enough in bed to be worth my time. Jenny said it was like f***ing a damn streetlamp."

Elizabeth could see that Sam was trying to control his emotions. Squashing down laughter, and determinedly not widening his eyes at her language, Sam replied, "I don't think it was Brian. I'm more worried about Talon."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped, "Excuse me? Did you just imply that that little s**t is worry of this temple?" Elizabeth hovered her hand over her body, moving it up and down incredulously.

"Elizabeth Blake?" A nurse called them into a room. When they got in, Elizabeth obeyed the nurse for the most part. If you called obedience groaning at every request, cursing the too-bright lights, and moving as slowly as molasses.

Elizabeth thought weirdly that Sherlock would have killed her had she actually ever acted like this. Sam certainly seemed both impressed and horrified at her acting skills.

"Well, Elizabeth," the nurse said. "I will just go get the doctor for you."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as the woman left.

"It's definitely not her," Sam said the moment she was gone. "Pestilence would never put up with that stuff."

"Aren't the Four Horsemen...well... _men_?" Elizabeth asked, dropping the crap for a moment.

"Not necessarily," Sam replied. "I mean they are, but their vessels may not be."

"Gotcha." Elizabeth slipped back into drama queen mode when the doctor walked in. The doctor was a light-haired, great-looking, young man. An intern followed him in, his hair brown and just as attractive.

"Hello, Miss Blake," the doctor, whose tag read Dr. Chase, greeted her. "How are we today?"

"Fine, whatever," Elizabeth sighed, gazing up at the ceiling.

"I see," Chase turned to Sam. "What seems to be the problem?" He picked up the chart at the end of the table.

"I just want to make sure nothing...you know... _happened_ ," Sam answered. "She was at this party last night. She got home late. I'm just..."

"You're worried. I understand," Chase nodded. He went to stand in front of Elizabeth. "Now, would you prefer that a female doctor do this?" Chase pulled on a pair of latex gloves, snapping them onto his hands.

"But, sir..." the intern, Grey apparently, seemed unsure. "Shouldn't we take her vitals first? Or at least question her? This isn't protocol."

Those words had Elizabeth's heart rate up before Chase just killed the intern with a flick of his wrist.

"Pestilence sends his regards," Chase sneered. His eyes flipped to black, and then back again. "Hunters."

Sam whipped the Colt from out of his waistband. The demon hesitated, sizing them up. Elizabeth hopped off of the table and stood beside Sam.

"Where's Pestilence?" Sam asked the demon. "We were sent by your boss, Crowley."

"I do not serve Crowley!" Chase screamed. "Crowley has gone soft. He has been corrupted by you and your brother. He does not see reason. He does not want the Apocalypse to happen!"

"I happen to agree," Sam fired the Colt, sending a bullet into the demon's chest. Chase's body seemed to become electrocuted, and he convulsed painfully. Then he was still.

"We need to find Dean and Cassie," Elizabeth said. Sam nodded in agreement.

Bursting out of the room, Sam and Elizabeth were prepared to fight their way through the hospital. Strangely, there was no one outside the room. Not the receptionist, no one.

Something was definitely wrong. That gunshot should have sent security running to investigate.

Racing through the halls in search of Dean and Castiel, they saw no one.

Then, as they turned a corner, Elizabeth felt a shot of white, hot pain punch her in the gut. With a cry, she crumpled to the ground. Blinking back tears, Elizabeth saw Sam fall beside her, hands clenched around his head.

Elizabeth struggled to move. If they were this sick, they had to be close.

Then she started coughing up blood.


	4. Breach

**Author's Note** **: Hola, mes amis! I hope that everyone is doing great!**

 **Sorry for the wait. If anyone even cares, I guess.**

 **And I'll apologize now. I suck at fight scenes. So, I hope you like what I did instead.**

 **Without further ado...**

 _Cas! Cas, help!_

Castiel focused on Dean's location and flew there inmediately. He had been investigating in the morgue (strangely no one there had anything to say), when he had been startled by Dean calling for him.

Castiel arrived next to Dean, who was crouching on the floor, obviously in pain. Castiel knelt next to him, assessing his condition. He couldn't detect any open wounds, There were no broken bones, internal bleeding, or organ failure so how... Of course. The angel turned.

Pestilence stood in the corner, revelling in Dean's misery. A demon didn't need a weapon to inflict torturous agony. He had a wry smile on his face, clearly he enjoyed doing this. Pestilence snapped his fingers, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Elizabeth and Sam appeared in the room. Sam was kneeling and clutching at his head, eyes clenched shut in agony. Elizabeth was lying on the ground, coughing and spluttering. Blood, dark and red, pooled on the ground beside her. Her face was a chalky white, and she looked like she was about to pass out.

Castiel narrowed his eyes on Pestilence. Burning hate for the Horseman engulfed Castiel, and he saw a red haze. "Release them now!" He slid the angel blade into his hand. Castiel eyed Pestilence's hand, the ring glistening on his fourth finger. Castiel reminded himself of the mission. He could kill Pestilence, but if he did, he would need to retrieve the ring first.

"Now, why would I want to do that?" Pestilence drawled. He regarded the blade in Castiel's hand like it was a toy. He stared at Elizabeth, concentrating in a way that spiked a protectiveness in Castiel. Suddenly, Elizabeth began convulsing. Her back arched off of the ground, and she cried out. Dean unfolded himself, cringing as he did so, and crawled to Elizabeth's side.

"Stop this!" Dean croaked, trying to get to his feet. He failed miserably, falling back to the floor. All he could do was watch as Elizabeth went still.

Rage crashed over Castiel. He whirled on the demon, hand gripping the angel blade tightly. Castiel charged at Pestilence. The demon sneered in answer, poised to meet him.

Pestilence put up a good fight. But Castiel liked to think that he had God on his side.

While Castiel fought, he thought of Sam. Sam who was in agony. Of Dean. Dean who even in his pain was trying to overcome it to protect others. Of Elizabeth. Elizabeth who was completely still.

With the others down, Castiel was their only hope to vanquish the Horseman. The thought of his best friends relying on him spurred him on. In the end, he was able to send Pestilence back to Hell, sliding the ring off of the assbutt's finger before he dissolved.

Castiel examined the ring. It had a silver band with a hunk of silver on the top. Engraved on the hunk was a long rod with two snakes entwined around it. Castiel thought it ironic that the symbol of healing would adorn the ring of Pestilence.

After Pestilence was gone, Castiel took a deep breath to calm himself. He slid the blade back into the sheath in his sleeve. Sam and Dean took a few moments, and then they had recovered. But Elizabeth was still either unconscious or... Castiel refused to consider that other option.

Sam joined Dean by her side; Castiel waited with bated breath as Sam reached for her wrist.

"She's alive!" They all sighed in relief. Knowing that his power could help since she was still alive, Castiel stepped forward and healed her. He did leave her sleeping however. Angels could not heal exhaustion, and seizures would have taken too much out of her.

After he had healed Sam and Dean too, Castiel gathered Elizabeth into his arms, "Will you be alright to drive back?" The brothers nodded.

Castiel dipped his head to them, and then he flew back to the bunker.

He gently laid Elizabeth on her bed, tucking the sheets around her. She would most likely wake up in an hour or two, hopefully feeling much better.

Castiel thought for a moment, and then flew away.

It was snowing. Castiel was grateful that he barely felt the cold; his Grace kept his vessel warmer. He walked up to the door and knocked on it.

An older woman answered it, "Can I help you?" The woman looked like she had been crying.

"May I come in?" Castiel asked politely. He lied quickly. "I am expected."

The woman nodded knowingly, "Ah, right. Of course. Go on up. He's upstairs."

Castiel smiled and thanked her. His footsteps made no sound as he traipsed up the stairs.

He entered the room, his eyes immediately falling on the man inside.

Castiel felt Jimmy's heart go out to this man. The man was curled into an impossibly tight ball, squished into a black leather armchair. His curly, black hair was greasy, obviously he had not been taking care of himself recently. The man's eyes were closed, and he had dark, purple shadows under them.

Sensing someone was in the room, the man's eyes shot open hopefully. When they rested on Castiel, the man shrank further and shut his eyes again.

"Go away."

"But-"

"No," the man sighed. "I don't care who you are. I don't care why you're here. Just get out."

"Please-" Castiel tried again.

"No!" The man screamed, jumping out of the chair. He swayed like he hadn't gotten up for forever. "Get out now!"

"I know where Elizabeth is!" Castiel shouted. The man's eyes widened.

"What?" Sherlock Holmes straightened, life flowing back into his body. He eyed Castiel warily, as if he expected him disappear.

"Mr. Holmes," Castiel said. "I know where your daughter is."


	5. Brothers

**Author's Note** **: Bonjour, my good peoples! I hope that everyone is doing great today!**

 **This is fun, guys. Like seriously.**

 **Without further ado...**

Dean set Pestilence's ring in the middle of the table in the main room of the bunker. This piece of jewelry had almost gotten him, Sam, and Elizabeth killed. It had certainly caused them a lot of pain.

Dean had hated feeling helpless as both his brother and his new friend were subjected to agony right in front of him. Yes, he knew that there really wasn't anything he could've done, but that didn't make him feel any better. He figured it was a big brother thing.

Dean had practically raised Sam. If anything happened to that kid, Dean didn't know what he would do. Scratch that. Dean knew exactly what he would do, and had done. He'd sell his soul. Even knowing what Hell truly was, he would do it again in a heartbeat to save Sam.

And Elizabeth was quickly becoming like the little sister he had never had. Dean was not in a hurry for her to leave them. He wanted her to be able to go home, but he would definitely miss her when she was gone.

Even though he hadn't known her for long, Dean already trusted Elizabeth. He was a little amazed at himself for feeling that way too. Usually, Dean was extremely distrustful. But there was just something about Elizabeth...

Damn. All of that just for this little thing. This whole plan had better work.

One down, three to go.

Sam came back into the room, Elizabeth following behind him. Sam had gone to wake her up the moment they had gotten back. They needed to figure out their next step.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked. Sam and Elizabeth sat at the table across from him.

Sam shrugged, "He wasn't in his room. Maybe he's off doing God's Will or something."

"Is that it?" Elizabeth was looking at the ring with awe. "Is that Pestilence's ring?"

"Yep," Dean spun the ring, watching it whirl around with metallic clanging. "One down, three to go." One near-death experience down, three more close calls to go.

Elizabeth brushed her blond hair behind her ears. "What happened? The last thing I remember is being zapped into the room by Pestilence. I think I must have blacked out."

Sam looked to Dean, who sighed, "Pestilence was posing as one of the doctors. I found him, but he used his evil, douche mojo on me, and I went down. I prayed to Cas, and he teleported in. Then Pestilence zapped you two in, you guys were already sick at that point. I could hear him talking to Cas, and then Pest pointed at you, Lizzy, and you started convulsing. I crawled over but... I yelled at him, and you just stopped. I thought you'd died. And then Cas went all badass on Pestilence. He lost it. Anyways, in the end we got the ring, and we all lived."

"I'm sorry, guys," Elizabeth said, staring down at her hands.

"For what?" Dean asked, confused.

"I wasn't very much help at that hospital."

"Elle, don't even start," Sam said firmly. He gazed hard at Elizabeth. "You weren't any more useless than me or Dean. The Horsemen are the freaking Horsemen. If we didn't have Cas, there wouldn't have been any chance of defeating Pestilence. The rest shouldn't be so bad."

"Uh, death?" Elizabeth reminded him.

"Yeah, we'll go for him last," Dean remarked. "But War and Famine. I mean come on, how bad can they be?"

"Did you have to ask that?" Sam said, exasperated. Dean just shrugged.

"Where is Cas, anyways?" Dean said after a moment. "We need to discuss our next move. And we've got to figure out this 'favor' that Crowley wants. But I'd rather not call for the King of Hell without an angel in our midst."

"Pray for him, and see if he comes," Elizabeth suggested.

Dean went to pray for Cas, but he stopped. "You try it," he told Elizabeth.

"Really?"

"Yeah, give it a shot," Dean encouraged. "All you do is think about him while you talk. See you can just talk, like _Cas, get your feathery ass down here_. But if you don't think about his feathery ass while you do it, when I just said those words I was thinking about Halle Berry, it doesn't work. So think about trench coats, feathers, and smiting."

"Alright," Elizabeth closed her eyes, concentrating. Dean and Sam waited. "Hey, Cassie?" Elizabeth seemed a little uncertain. Dean understood. He remembered feeling stupid in the beginning too. "Would you please come back to the bunker? We need to figure out what to do next." Elizabeth opened her eyes, looking up at the ceiling.

"You don't have to say 'please'," Sam commented.

"It's polite," Elizabeth countered. "Besides, he's an angel. It feels wrong to tell him to get his 'feathery ass' down here. He could decide to smite us if we annoy him."

Elizabeth suddenly jumped, looking around surprised. Her blue eyes had gone wide.

"Elizabeth, what is it?" Dean asked worriedly.

Elizabeth relaxed, "Oh, it was just Cassie. He says he'll be back soon."

Dean blinked. "What a second..."

"Cas talked back to you?" Sam asked, amazed.

"He never talks back to me," Dean remarked, pouting a little.

"He says that he has something for me," Elizabeth said. She turned to look at Dean. "Do I want to know what it is?"

"Probably not," Dean answered honestly. He had no idea what a surprise from Castiel would even entail. To be honest, he was a little wary of finding out.

"Cas says he's flying in now," Elizabeth relayed her brainwaves to Sam and Dean. "Is that what the zapping is: flying? It doesn't feel like flying."

"Yeah, angel flight feels more like falling through a blackhole, then being sucked through a vacuum, and finally being digested in the stomach of a shark before falling back through the blackhole and back into reality. But that the reality is a hundred miles away from the last one," Sam remarked.

Elizabeth and Dean stared at Sam in amazement. Then they started laughing. Dean said, "You've thought a lot about that, haven't you?"

Sam shrugged, joining Dean and Elizabeth in laughter.

"Elizabeth?" Dean turned towards the unfamiliar voice, wondering who it was.

Castiel stood in the doorway. A disheveled guy in a blue robe stood beside him, staring at Elizabeth. Dean stood up from the table, shifting so Elizabeth was blocked from view.

"Who is this, Cas?" Dean looked the man up and down. God, he looked like crap.

The man started forward, meaning to run around Dean to Elizabeth. Dean sidestepped, blocking his way. "Don't go anywhere near her," Dean warned. "Cas, _who is this_?"

Elizabeth walked up behind Dean, staring at the man incredulously.

"Dad?"


End file.
